Chapter 2 - Stalling
Natsu stood still, holding his breath so as not to disturb Gray into awareness. He wasn't ready to face Gray.
There was something that, oddly, made him panic.
Through his mind a mantra of 'ohshitohfuckdon'twakeupdon'twakeupdon'twakeupfuckfuckfuck' was running at light speed.
The lack of air was making his lungs burn – a very unpleasant feeling – but he almost didn't dare to let it whoosh out.
Gray moved a little, snuggling into Natsu's legs, mumbling something, now it was more discernible but still too low to understand, before curling one arm around Natsu's leg. That made him frown – and Natsu panic – and soon enough Gray was starting to blink hazily.
The fire mage was leaning back, wondering if he might manage to slip his leg from the other's embrace and make a run for it. The mantra was still running through his mind and, alongside with the pounding in it, was very unpleasant.
Gray rolled to lay on his back, yawning and stretching.
He seemed to realize that he was accompanied and so he mumbled a rough, "Good m'rning."
Natsu gulped.
"'Morning…" his said in a low register.
"Ah. You're still here?" Gray asked, oddly, before recoiling from his voice. "Shit, my head." He muttered, one hand coming to cradle his forehead.
Been there, done that. Natsu couldn't help but note with irony.
"Yeah…" Natsu said hesitantly. "Huh, Gray…?"
"Ahh, I can't believe how much we drank last night after the mission. That was some party."
"Nobody parties like our guild." Natsu couldn't help but add. "But…"
"It was a weird mission so…" Gray was about to say something more, he was looking straight at Natsu but then, suddenly a loud noise and the shaking of the ground had both mages startling.
"What the fuck was that?" Natsu yelled and both of them reacted with a pained noise.
"It's coming from the outside." Gray answered and both mages were attempting to untangle themselves from the bedsheets and trying not to stumble into each other as they did their best to throw their trousers on at least before running to the door.
Outside, everything was in disarray.
There were people running in every direction. Panic was nearly palpable in the air.
Loud noises rose above the racket that had been created. Smoke was covering the air alongside clouds of dust.
It came from the guild's whereabouts but it didn't seem like anybody from there had jumped into action yet.
"What the fuck is this?" They asked each other, mildly without reaction. But then something snapped and they pelted away towards the guild.
There was fighting going on already. A huge commotion going on the guild's surrounding area.
A figure was towering over the buildings and the battlefield.
Upon a quick scan over the area, it was possible to see that there were no townspeople in the middle of the fray.
The huge figure seemed to have noticed them, the face turning towards the boys and a killing intent coming in waves off the figure.
A shiver ran down Natsu's spine and he turned around, the cold feeling of being caught in a trap washing over him.
Sure enough, a hooded and cloaked figure was standing leisurely behind them.
"What the-!" The fire mage could hear Gray say, a string of swears following.
"My, that's quite a mouth you have in there, laddie." The voice seemed to make a strange echo.
"Who are you?" Natsu asked, already steadying himself into an attacking stance. He got slightly off balance due to the scarf that was stuffed inside his trousers' pocket.
"No-one." The hooded figure jumped over Gray, its body becoming translucent while traversing the ice mage. "Just someone who's looking for something."
Natsu frowned. Uncomprehending.
"The fuck do you mean?" Natsu asked, eyes widening as Gray slumped into the ground, unconscious. Unconsciously fire lit up around his fists.
"Ah. It's you." The other said, the hollow voice confusing Natsu.
"Huh?" Was all Natsu was able to say before the hooded figure started to walk towards him.
At that time a large rock fell right beside Natsu, followed by a ground shaking boom.
The fire mage's attention momentarily focused on the boulder and when he focused back on where the spectre was, it was gone.
"Shit." He cursed, a sudden chill making him duck. He rolled and, as expected, was staring at the frayed bottom of the spectre's cloak. Natsu looked up and punched, the other figure jumping back and distancing itself from the fire.
Natsu suddenly felt as if he were carrying an enormous weight on his shoulders.
It was a very odd feeling.
And he didn't like it one bit.
As soon as he was preparing himself to attack once again, Natsu felt a sudden impact on the left side of his neck. His hand automatically went to it and when he brought his fingers back, they were tinged with blood.
A strange burning – an unusual and deeply unsettling burning – started to spread through him, flowing through his veins and scorching his insides.
It hurt.
It hurt so much.
Before he knew it, Natsu was crumbling to the ground, blackness taking away the world.
The warmth of somebody's embrace seeped into Natsu. It was a complete difference towards the last thing he remembered, the burning inside him had Natsu's awareness surface much quicker. But the arm thrown around him warded that awareness off, a shield against the wisps of pain that still clung to him.
So, in this way, Natsu allowed himself to bask in the calm.
In his half-awake, half-asleep state Natsu dreamt.
He was breathing harshly against a mouth, their lips were moving, both while speaking and kissing. He knew that the hard body before him, there was a familiarity while touching the planes of muscle. He wondered about it. Natsu scratched his blunt nails on the other's shoulder and arm and for that got a sharp bite against his collarbone. The surge of need that ran through him was unexpected yet unsurprising. Their clothing was being shed carelessly behind them and they stumbled into a room, unwilling to let go of the other.
There were words. A familiar exchange that this time was tinged with innuendos. Though subtlety wasn't included. They laughed, kissed some more and then fell into a plush surface, bouncing a little as they rolled around, seeing who would come out victorious. And on top.
In the end, they were laying on their sides, Natsu's hand curled around the other and the other hand moving deliciously on him. He was getting close, Natsu could feel it.
He was…
Natsu sat up on the bed, suddenly. He looked to his side, Gray still deeply under sleep's veil.
It was odd. And a little unnerving. But Natsu had to do it.
He gulped, took a deep breath and then, placed his hand on Gray's shoulder – the one he'd scratched, he noticed – and shook.
"Gray. Heh, Gray, wake up." He nearly shouted.
Then he caught himself.
Gray wasn't really a morning person and waking him so suddenly probably wouldn't do much to improve his mood.
Not that Natsu's mood was much better. The pounding from his head as well as the wisps of pain that still, stubbornly, clung to him were making him quite grouchy.
Gray seemed to start to come to. He smacked his lips a few times, conjuring noiseless words as his eyes opened the smallest slit.
Gray rolled to lay on his side and let out a yawn at the same time that he stretched.
Then he noticed that he'd been awakened and so uttered a rough, "Good m'rning."
Natsu grimaced at the déjà vu.
"Morning…" he said in a low voice.
"Ah. You're still here?" Gray asked, but then letting a pained noise as his voice sounded too loud. "Shit, my head." He muttered, one hand rising to his forehead.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Natsu sighed. Then he looked seriously at the ice mage. "Gray, something really weird is happening. I… I think that it might have something to do with something that happened yesterday…"
"Uh, what could that be?" Gray asked, not yet completely awake.
"Like hell would I know!" Natsu shouted.
They both recoiled from the volume.
"Okay, fine." Gray waved him off.
"And, huh, I wanted to ask you." Natsu started fidgeting a little. "How did…?"
"Hm?" Gray let out another yawn and sat on the edge of the bed, readying himself to stand. "Oh, where did my clothes go?" he mused out loud.
Natsu covered his face with his hands.
Gray stood and started walking around the room in his favoured state, completely naked. He was grabbing things to wear.
"Oh yeah." He said suddenly, looking at Natsu. "And you're the one who started it yesterday."
"What!" Natsu squeaked out.
"You know it." Gray said with a shrug. "I guess that when they bring out the good stuff you can't handle it. Fire mage my ass."
"Oi! If I remember correctly you weren't all too well either." Natsu started shouting but quickly adjusted his voice to an irate hiss.
"Whatever makes you feel better..." Gray said with a smirk.
Natsu huffed and stomped out of the room, grabbing his clothes too and putting them on.
"Move your ass and go to the guild." He said in a slightly louder tone, distractedly making sure to tuck the scarf better into the pocket. He left the house with a few more stomps, making sure to slam the door. It might have made his head hurt a bit but so did Gray's and it was worth it.
He walked quickly to the guild, needing to find something for the headache and, as expected, the first person he met was Lucy.
She was too perky and made sure to walk beside him.
"Good morning, Natsu." Her smile was so bright that Natsu nearly had to cover his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Look, I need to talk to you, Erza and Gray about yesterday's mission." Natsu headed towards the food and drink. His stomach was still a bottomless pit.
"My, you sure seem like you had a big night…" She started, with a sly expression. Then it shifted to confused. "Wait. Yesterday's mission? Why?"
"I just do. Could you go look for Erza? I know that Gray'll appear in no time."
Lucy's expression for a too quick moment got evil but then eased down into teasing and slightly perverted.
"Fine. I'll return in no time." She said, turning on her heel and heading to the door.
Natsu breathed out in relief. He was finally going to have a few instants for himself. And breakfast. But then a thought returned to him.
Where was Happy?
When they were all sitting at the table, with their breakfast mostly eaten, Natsu leaned back and eyed his friends.
It was time.
"Guys, I have something to tell you."
They all looked at him with expectant expressions.
"What's going on?" Lucy finally asked.
"I'm reliving the day." He said.
A heavy silence fell on the table, the others looking at the fire mage with confused expressions.
"What?" Gray said in astonishment.
Yep, it was going as well as expected...
A/N: Yay, another chapter. Sorry for taking so long to get this one out.
Hopefully it was interesting anyway.
And let's see if the story ends on the next chapter...
Unbetaed.
Anyway, any thoughts? Feedback's always nice.